Shadow and Ash
by Quill of Molliemon
Summary: AU, follows "Surf's Up!", warning: sad.  Naruto always dreamed of having awesome adventures on his pokemon journey, but he never imagined this...
1. Part I

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Naruto_ or _Pokémon_. If I did, I'd have a lot of money…but I don't. So don't bother suing, you won't get anything out of it.

**Notes:** (Crossover, could be a crack!fic if you want) Here there be Naruto characters and Pokémon monsters! This is a _short story_ which takes place a little bit before, but mostly after "Surf's Up!".

Be ye warned…this one's gonna be sad.

* * *

><p><strong>Shadow and Ash<strong>

_Part I_

Kabuto adjusted his glasses as he withdrew his collapsed glaceon from the battlefield. The current challenger was on his last legs with only a weary umbreon left able to fight. The silver-haired trainer toyed with the idea of using his last and most powerful pokémon—his venusaur—to crush the noisy blond boy. But the rules that he'd declared at the start of the fight had limited him to using only five of his six monsters and if he violated that, the kid just might be bright enough to report him and draw unwanted attention to the gym.

So, with a friendly smile, he conceded the match.

The boy managed a cheer and eagerly accepted the gym's Serpent Badge. Kabuto kept his cheerful, harmless smile on his face until the challenger had scampered out the doors with his umbreon trotting at his heels. The instant he was alone, the expression on his face faded into something cold and neutral.

He calmly left the battlefield for the back rooms of the gym. Depositing the pokéballs that contained his injured creatures into the healing machine, he strolled into a control room filled with video screens that displayed feeds that came in from dozens of cameras all around the building. He settled himself in front of a control panel and prepared to review the match he'd just lost before adding it to the archives, but hesitated when he noticed the position of some of the dials.

"…You're back early, sir. Is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine," a dark, velvety voice hissed from the shadowed corner of the room. "My business simply didn't take as long as I had estimated that it would."

"Did you enjoy the show?" Kabuto asked as he glanced over his shoulder.

Orochimaru seemed to melt out of the shadows as he pushed off the wall and moved to sit in the chair beside his subordinate. He was unnaturally pale and his narrow, serpentine face looked inhuman in the poor light of the room. The gym leader ran his unusually long tongue over his lips before giving Kabuto a thin, reptilian smile.

"Yes," he decided, brushing a few strands of limp black hair away from his golden eyes. "It was most entertaining. I found that boy's ninetales especially fascinating. It's too bad we can't risk stealing it here."

Kabuto nodded, then arched an eyebrow when he spied something slide out of Orochimaru's loose kimono-like sleeve and slither out onto the control panel.

It was green and slender with very stubby limbs and a three-pronged leaf at the end of its tail. The small monster was clearly a grass type and serpentine in form, which was probably why the gym leader had chosen to acquire it. The unfamiliar creature stared at Kabuto with a smugly superior look on its narrow pointed face.

"The egg I picked up on the black market finally hatched," Orochimaru chuckled. "Such a marvelous little creature, isn't he? I've decided to call him…Kusanagi."

* * *

><p>Dosu polished his metal forearm guard, rubbing away countless imaginary smudges. Not only did it protect the back of his right hand, wrist, and part of his arm from damage in fights, it gave his wicked backhand an extra bite. It also made a lovely sound when he tapped it against other metal objects like railings and door handles. He rubbed the cloth over the metal, huddled deeper in his bulky trench coat, and did his best to ignore his teammates.<p>

Kin was a whiny brat with delusions of grandeur. She dreamed of being a famous model and singer someday and constantly practiced being an annoying diva for the day when her goals magically came within her grasp. The bratty girl kept her black hair ridiculously long and sometimes Dosu wondered if she had a phobia that involved scissors or hair salons.

Zaku was a hot-headed punk that wanted to be a tough gangster more than anything. He kept a pair of air-powered pistols that fired tranquilizer darts close at hand, which he used to shamelessly cheat in both human and pokémon battles. Dosu always sneered at the pistols. After each shot they needed to be pumped back up to be able to fire again and that took time, leaving Zaku vulnerable.

As team leader, they were subordinate to him, but their personalities made them a headache to deal with. Kin would complain and tease Zaku and always tried to get her own way. Zaku was loud and impulsive with a short fuse and he would rise to Kin's bait every single time. Most days Dosu contemplated killing them as he mediated their stupid childish spats and struggled to keep them on task.

They were currently at loose ends, hanging out on the fringes of Oto City a few minutes away from their boss's gym. They weren't working on any job or project, and probably wouldn't get much action for a good long time. After their stint in prison in Wind Country, they were too hot. If they got collared again from a crime, they'd go back to jail for even longer.

It could cost them their place in Team Sound.

"Hey!" Zaku hissed and shoved Dosu's shoulder, breaking his concentration. "Hey, look! It's that stupid punk!"

"What stupid punk?" Dosu muttered, adjusting the bandages that covered his face to hide the burns from a childhood accident.

"That dumb shit that got us locked up in Suna!" Zaku snarled, barely able to keep his voice down. "The blond with the weird scars!"

"Let's crush him, Dosu," Kin pleaded. "He's all by himself—no creepy gym leader back-up this time!"

Attention grabbed, Dosu stood up from his tree stump seat and peered through the bushes at the dirt road down the slope. Sure enough, the blond pokémon trainer with the odd facial scars that had ruined their museum heist in Suna City was walking down the road leading from the gym towards the nearest Pokémon Center, clear on the other side of town. And he was alone, with only a tired-looking umbreon at his side.

Anger boiled in the pit of his stomach as he watched the little idiot stroll along without a care in the world. The stupid kid had no idea what his meddling had done to their lives, no idea what it was like in juvenile prison. It was because of this carefree little fool that they were in the doghouse with the rest of their organization.

_If he's just leaving the gym after a challenge, his monsters will be all tired out, and there aren't many people around this part of town at any time of day…_

Dosu plucked one of his pokéballs from his belt and glared hatefully down at his younger foe.

_…I think our odds are good enough._

* * *

><p>Naruto felt almost giddy with relief as he and Shadow headed back towards the gritty heart of Oto City. Even though Kabuto had only been a substitute gym leader it had been a harder match than he'd expected. Twice he'd almost lost, but they'd persevered and come away with the badge.<p>

It was an odd-looking badge. There was a purple snake coiled around a silver musical note. The snake he understood as the gym leader was supposed to use only snake-like pokémon, but the eighth note made him scratch his head.

_Maybe this Orochimaru guy likes classical music?_

A rustling sound to his left tore his attention away from the shiny pin and he looked up the slope—

A whismur, a loudred, and an exploud burst from the woods and barreled down towards him with the exploud quickly racing into the lead. The pink whismur and the gray loudred were whipping themselves into _uproars_ while the massive exploud was ominously silent, its enormous mouth closed tightly. Naruto gaped as the seconds seemed to crawl by as the exploud charged right at him, one arm stiff, straight, and glowing.

_It's going to hit…__**me**__?_

The exploud swung its arm—

Naruto stumbled sideways, stunned paralysis broken, as something tackled his legs—

_**CRACK!**_

"Shadow, no!"


	2. Part II

**Shadow and Ash**

_Part II_

Izumo did his best to stay awake as he sat in the police box positioned at the start of the main road that led in and out of Konoha Town. Kotetsu was unashamedly napping on the job and Izumo was tired of kicking him awake only for him to fall back asleep when nothing was going on. It was just before lunch and Eclipse was dozing in his lap while Dusk was passed out underneath Kotetsu's chair. Outside of the police box it was drizzling and there wasn't another living thing in sight.

_I hope it stops raining soon._ Izumo yawned and rubbed furiously at his eyes. _If it doesn't I'm going to fall asleep, too…_

His espeon stirred, then sat up and stared out the window into the dreary gray sky.

"Hey, Eclipse, what's up?"

The violet-furred monster just kept staring as he sat stiff and still with not even his split tail twitching.

"Maybe someone's coming?" Izumo muttered and did his best to follow his creature's gaze.

At first he saw nothing but sullen gray clouds and rain. But then he spied a dark dot that slowly grew and resolved itself into a flying pokémon of some kind. And as it drew even closer he could see that a person was riding it.

"Huh, a visitor in this weather," Izumo said and started kicking his partner awake. "Someone's coming; you don't want to be caught napping!"

"Eh?" Kotetsu yawned, stretched, and scrubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Who is it?"

"Can't tell," Izumo shrugged. "He should be landing soon."

"Flying in the rain?" Kotetsu snorted. "That's not too smart."

"Yeah," Izumo agreed. "It isn't raining as hard as it was earlier, but still…"

"You going to lecture him?" Kotetsu teased.

"Quiet," Izumo muttered. "Here he comes."

The flying pokémon touched down a few yards short of the police box and kicked up a spray of mud with its hard landing. It was a flygon and as it was a ground-type desert pokémon it looked worn out after flying through hours of rain. The soaked trainer slid off the dragon's back, returned it to its pokéball, and started to trudge into town.

"Hey, it's that Naruto kid," Kotetsu blinked.

Izumo frowned at the sight of the blond boy's slumped posture and blank downcast face. _Did he lose a big fight, or something?_

As the boy walked past them, Kotetsu opened the door and waved to him.

"Hey there! What are you doing out in this crappy weather?"

At first, Naruto didn't seem to hear him and just kept on walking, before he finally did stop and look back at them once he was several feet past the town gates. But when Dusk slipped out and trotted over to sniff at his sneakers, the boy tensed and paled. He stared at the umbreon, then turned and bolted without saying a word.

"What the…?" Kotetsu scratched at his head before glancing over at his partner. "What do you think that was about?"

"No idea," Izumo shrugged as he watched the young trainer run through the drizzle and vanish into town. "It couldn't be that he's afraid of Dusk. He has an umbreon of his own, doesn't he?"

* * *

><p>Konohamaru hopped around puddles as he led his little crew back to his house after a successful visit to the candy store. They had left their self-caught, self-tamed pokémon back at their houses to keep them out of the gloomy, damp weather. It felt weird for him to not have the aipom his grandfather had given him sitting on his shoulder, but there wouldn't be much room for the little purple monkey underneath his little black umbrella.<p>

"Do you want to play my new video game?" Konohamaru asked as they trod the familiar path to his home.

"Sure," Udon agreed, rubbing at his stuffy nose.

"You always play video games," Moegi complained.

"Well what do you want to do then," Konohamaru sighed.

"How about we watch a movie?" the girl suggested.

"What movie?" Udon sniffled.

"Um…"

Konohamaru stopped short as he rounded the corner, causing his two friends to crash into his back. Up ahead he saw an older boy leaning against a wall and panting for breath, like he'd been running. A surge of excitement filled the professor's grandson and he raced forward, deaf to his friends' complaints and questions on why he'd stopped so suddenly.

The day before he'd learned some very exciting news. He'd shared it with his friends, his classmates, and everyone that he knew. And now that he had a new person to share this bit of news with he was fired up all over again.

"Naruto! Hey, Naruto!" Konohamaru cried as he skidded to a halt in front of the pokémon trainer. "Guess what, guess what, guess what?"

Naruto just stared at him blankly so Konohamaru plowed on ahead, unable to contain himself.

"There's gonna be three new pokémon for beginning trainers to pick real soon! And all the Safari Zones are gonna have new monsters, too! All the elemental countries were finally able to make a deal with some far away foreign country to get the pokémon they have there, so by the time I get my license they'll be a whole bunch of new pokémon around!"

Konohamaru reached into his coat pocket for a beat-up pamphlet and shoved the pictures of the three new starting monsters in the older boy's face.

"I totally don't know whether I should pick the tepig or the snivy—"

"Konohamaru-kun!" Moegi interrupted. "I thought we agreed that you'd take the tepig and I'd take the snivy!"

"No, I haven't made up my mind yet," Konohamaru insisted.

"But you said that you had!" Moegi complained.

"I'm picking the oshawott," Udon said, removing his glasses to rub the fog off the lenses with his shirt.

"No I didn't!" Konohamaru argued, glaring at the red-headed girl. "I said I was going to wait to get Naruto's opinion on what I should pick."

"You didn't say that!" Moegi yelled, stomping her foot.

"Yes I did," Konohamaru yelled back. "So, Naruto, what…" The boy blinked and looked around. "Hey, where'd he go?"

* * *

><p>Naruto moved in a mental haze as he stumbled down the long, winding path towards his house. He was numb to the drizzle as it started intensifying back to being a serious downpour. He was oblivious to the puddles and the mud and his cold, wet clothing. All that mattered was getting home.<p>

_—The exploud loomed over him as the whismur and loudred kept up their deafening racket and the fully evolved monster raised its foot to __**stomp**__ him—_

He stepped out of his soggy, muddy shoes once he trudged through the front door before wandering the house in search of his mother. His soaked socks left little puddles with every step he took as he wandered through the house. When he reached the kitchen, he found his mother on the phone in voice-only mode.

_—A machamp knocked the exploud head-over-tail-pipes with a __**dynamic punch**__ and moved to deal with the whismur and loudred—_

"…No, I am not arguing with you over this! Don't be a—no, _you_ listen here, you—" She saw him standing in the kitchen doorway and blinked. "I'll call you back," she muttered into the phone and hung-up, heedless of the angry protests streaming out of the device. "Naruto, what are you doing here? And you're all wet!"

_—He ignored the eccentric dojo master in a green karate gi over a spandex bodysuit dressing down the pokémon that had attacked him as he ran desperately towards some policemen heading towards the scene—_

Naruto mutely allowed his mother to towel him dry, strip him of his soaked clothes, and dress him in a fresh outfit. He couldn't find the words to answer her when she found a few bruises on his back. He just sat at the kitchen table and clutched at the mug of hot chocolate that she'd shoved in his hands without saying a word.

_—The sirens on the police motorcycle were piercing as it raced towards the Pokémon Center and Naruto clung to it with a death grip—_

"Naruto, what's wrong?"

_—The Pokémon Center exploded into chaos as he rushed in and the police wanted to take his statement at their station but he didn't want to leave—_

"Baby, please talk to me—you're scaring me, here."

_—The attendant led him off to a small private room where she looked at him with a pitying look as she explained that there was nothing that they could do and he shook his head furiously and screamed as she tried to get him to sign some paperwork—_

"What happened?"

He sniffled, choked, and then burst into tears as his mother held him.

* * *

><p>Kushina tried not to panic as she dug through Naruto's soaked backpack to see what needed to be dried and what had to be thrown out. She hadn't even been back home one day from the conference in Cove Town and everything seemed to be going crazy. A few new specimens had arrived at the professor's lab weeks ahead of schedule and the little monsters had been out of control, her Aunt Asuka had somehow found out her phone number and decided to call and bitch at her, and now Naruto had turned up with no warning in a horrible state.<p>

Naruto was calmer now and in his room, but he still wouldn't say a word to her about why he was so upset. She'd checked her answering machine again in case there was a message that she'd missed from some police department that might explain it, but she found nothing. So she was left to fret in the dark about the mysterious issue.

_If he was the victim of a crime, the police have to call me and let me know. He's still a minor even though his license allows him to travel the countryside unescorted. And it can't be that he lost that gym challenge that he was going to take…could it?_

Her hand closed on something cool and hard and she pulled a small white ceramic box out of her son's pack. She stared at it in confusion, then recognition, and then horror. Her fingertip traced the name painted on the lid and she bit her lip.

_Oh…oh no…_

She cradled the small, cheap urn in the palm of her hand and contemplated it for a while. Then she left the kitchen to place the little box on the mantle of the fire place that she'd never really used in the living room. Murmuring a brief prayer she went to the phone and placed a call.

"…Hey, Minato, could you come over when you get this message? And…and bring Senkou with you, please?"


	3. Part III

**Shadow and Ash**

_Part III_

Just after breakfast, Bolt slipped outside to pace along the shore of Lake End. It was too hard to stay inside the house with how miserable Naruto was. So the pikachu went walking to try and find some peace away from his master's grief.

Shadow had been one of his first pokémon friends after he'd joined Naruto, since Demon was a jerk. It had been so nice to have someone to talk to that wouldn't try to set his tail on fire. They'd had lots of fun together, and it had only gotten better with every new monster that Naruto recruited.

_Why did it have to be him? Why couldn't Demon have been the one to get his back and neck broken? He's still a jerk even if he listens to Naruto better now. I wouldn't miss him!_

Bolt stopped at a gravelly spot and started throwing small stones into the still, glassy water. At first his throws were weak and apathetic. But with every pebble he threw, the more upset he became, and the harder he hurled his little missiles. Soon he was even tossing little rocks in the air and then striking them with his lightning bolt tail like he was playing baseball.

_:It's not fair!:_

Weary of throwing stones, he sat back on his haunches and watched the ripples left by his pebbles spread, mingle, and fade.

_:It's not fair…:_

He stared at the lake until it was perfectly still again and then he turned towards the forest…and found that he wasn't alone. There was another of his kind, a female, peering at him from behind a bush a few yards away. Something blue glittered from a cord around her neck and she had very unusual, striking, deep blue eyes.

_:…Uh, hi?:_ Bolt blinked and tilted his head curiously. _:Um…who are you?:_

She didn't answer and shrank deeper into the shrubbery.

_:H-hey, wait!:_ he waved his paws frantically. _:My name is Bolt. What's yours?:_

_:…Aoi,:_ she almost whispered. _:Are you one of Kushina's friends?:_

_ :I…I guess.:_ He shrugged and rubbed at one of his red cheeks. _:She's Naruto's mother and he's my friend, so…:_

Aoi shifted nervously before cautiously creeping closer to him. _:Are…you nice?:_

_ :Yeah, I'm a nice guy,:_ Bolt nodded.

She brightened up a little and edged even closer. _:Would you like to go swimming with me?:_

_ :S-swimming?:_ he choked, feeling a bit faint.

_:Yes,: _she nodded with a bright smile. _:I love swimming, and this lake is so nice!:_

Bolt gaped at her. She _loved_ swimming? Just the thought of being in the cold water and unable to touch the bottom made him feel dizzy.

_:Come on!:_ she cried and scampered past him and into the lake. _:Let's race to the other side!:_

He wrapped his arms around his tail and stared at her in shocked disbelief. _Race…in water?_

Aoi seemed to fly through the water and she made it a third of the way across the lake before noticing that he wasn't following. She stopped, treaded water for a moment, then slowly paddled back to the shore that he was sitting on. She slowed to a halt a yard offshore and gave him a questioning look.

_:You…don't want to play?:_

_ :I don't swim,:_ he replied with a shudder.

_:Why not?:_ she asked.

_:I just don't,:_ he huffed, folding his arms over his chest.

_:B-but why?:_ she stuttered nervously.

_:I—:_

_ :Because he's a wimp.:_

Bolt flinched and whirled around to see Demon padding along the shoreline towards him.

_:He's afraid of the water,:_ Demon continued with a snort. _:He doesn't know how to swim. So why don't you teach him?:_

_ :You don't know how to swim?:_ Aoi gasped, as if such a thing was unthinkable to her.

_:Shut up!:_ Bolt snarled, sparks crackling around his red cheek pouches. _:No one asked you to butt in!:_

_ :So what?:_ Demon scoffed. _:You can't swim. She can. You should stop being a baby and have her teach you so you don't have to worry about drowning anymore.:_

_ :Go away! I don't need to know how to swim!:_ Bolt argued.

_:You're such a baby,:_ Demon sighed. _:Maybe that's why Naruto won't use a __**thunderstone**__ on you—you're not grown-up enough to become a raichu.:_

_ :You jerk!:_ Bolt raged. _:I wish it was you and not Shadow that was gone forever! Nobody would miss you!:_

The silver ninetales snapped his head back as if he'd been punched. Demon stared at him with blazing red eyes for a minute before stalking off with a flounce of his blue-tipped tails. Bolt shook his fist at the fire fox's retreating form, pleased to see the unpleasant beast go.

_:Good riddance,:_ Bolt sniffed and turned back to Aoi, who was staring at him with wide, solemn eyes.

_:…You're not nice; not at all,:_ she said before she swam away, diving under the surface of the lake like a fish once the water was deep enough.

Bolt huffed, climbed a nearby tree, and sulked up in the higher branches.

_She just doesn't understand,_ he thought sullenly. _She's never had that jerk set her tail on fire, or insult her, or abuse her. She's never seen him humiliate Naruto by disobeying or ignoring orders. She has no idea how bad and mean Demon is._

_ I don't need to know how to swim. I don't __**want**__ to know how to swim._

He picked angrily at the bark of the bough he was perched on.

_So what if she was pretty?_

* * *

><p>Demon gnashed his teeth as he trotted through the woods. He'd already bypassed Naruto's house as he wasn't in the mood to deal with the mopey boy and his other creatures. So, without paying much attention to where he was going, he stormed off along a trail until his urge to set things on fire had burned itself out.<p>

The journey back to Konoha Town had been long, slow, and arduous. Naruto had wandered from town to town in a daze, barely sleeping, barely eating. Demon had done what he could to look after the stunned boy, just like the other creatures loyal to him, but just like them his efforts were ignored by their young master.

_Sure, it's sad what happened. Shadow was a decent beast; a bit simple and annoyingly eager to please, but loyal and determined. However,_ he seethed, _the rest of us are still here and alive, stupid Naruto! You weep over him and forget about us—about __**me**__!_

He was so wrapped up in his angry thoughts he nearly tripped over another pokémon that was sitting in his path.

_:Hey!:_

The ninetales lurched back a step and glanced down to find a gray-eyed vulpix scowling up at him.

_:Pay attention to where you're walking!:_ the vulpix scolded.

Demon's lips twitched towards a snarl and he tossed his head in irritation. After dealing with Bolt's bratty behavior he was less inclined than usual to deal with unhappy, unpleasant monsters. He glowered at the lesser fox and moved to walk around him and continue on his way.

_:Hey, where are you going?:_ the little fire fox demanded. _:Are you out to stir up trouble?:_

_:Trouble?:_ Demon almost growled, feeling his patience fray further.

_:The last loose ninetales in these parts did nothing but cause trouble,:_ the vulpix replied.

_:Hmph!:_ Demon snorted and kept on walking.

He was a bit surprised to find that he'd wandered to the outskirts of Konoha Town. To his right stretched the deep forest that encircled the human settlement but on his left the trees thinned and several houses were visible. And up ahead he could make out some of the buildings that made up the professor's research laboratory.

_…Eh, might as well go let the old smoking man examine me._

The vulpix was following him, a few paces behind. Demon watched him from the corner of his eye and frowned. The creature had a slight limp, and his gray eyes, the sound of his voice, and his scent niggled at Demon's memory.

_:…Who are you?:_ the ninetales finally asked, pausing just short of the path that led up the front doors of the lab.

_:You're the stranger here,:_ the vulpix countered. _:I want your name before I give you mine.:_

_:Grr, fine!:_ Demon huffed. _:My name is—:_

_:Wheee~!:_

Both foxes jerked up their heads to see a monkey-like creature swinging through the tree branches nearby. It was on the small side and yellow and red in color. A flame-like tuft of fur hung off the end of its tail and grew from its forehead that seemed to indicate that it was a fire-type monster…but Demon couldn't be sure as he never, ever seen anything quite like it before.

_:Oh no,:_ the vulpix sighed. _:Sear, come back!:_

_ :Nope!:_ the monkey hooted and paused to swing his tail at the little fox before hopping through the tree tops in a loop over their heads. _:Gotta catch me, gotta catch me~!:_

_ :Stop fooling around and go back to the professor!:_ the vulpix commanded.

_:No way!:_ the weird monkey laughed. _:It's boring in there! Gotta catch meee~!:_

Demon sighed as he watched the creature gleefully leap and flip over their heads. There was a pattern to its movements and as soon as the ninetales caught it, he acted. With a tiny burst of _extrasensory_ he shoved the little ape off-balance just as it was landing and broke its target branch for good measure. The monkey yelped and tumbled to the ground where Demon strolled over and pressed a paw on its chest so it couldn't get up and try to leave. The creature sprayed a stream of fire into Demon's face, but all that did was activate his _flash fire_ and annoy him.

_:Lemme go!:_ the monkey demanded when it saw that its fire had done nothing.

_:Nope,: _Demon replied. _:I caught you, so now you have to behave.:_

_ :No!:_ the strange creature moaned.

"Ah, there you are."

Demon's ear twitched at the sound of the approaching pokémon professor.

"If you're going to keep doing this, Sear, I think I'm going to need better locks on the windows," the old man sighed.

_:It's so boring inside!:_ Sear whined.

"Come back," the professor said and the odd fire monkey vanished in a flash of red light. "Ah, I'm getting too old for this." Shaking his balding head wearily, he glanced over at the fire foxes. "Good afternoon, Ash. And…Demon, I presume?"

The silver ninetales nodded.

"You shouldn't wander around alone like this," the old man cautioned. "Other trainers could assume that you're wild. If you would follow me?"

Demon padded along after the old professor. The vulpix, Ash, trotted along after him, too. The niggling at the back of Demon's mind intensified.

_:Do I know you from somewhere?:_

_ :I don't know any ninetales that looks like you,:_ Ash responded as he slipped into the laboratory behind them.

_:I wasn't always a ninetales,:_ Demon grumbled.

_:I didn't know any vulpix that were silver—:_

_ Thud!_

A blue and yellow monkey with a tuft of fur on its head that looked like a splash of water, or perhaps a cloud, darted out of a side room, bounced off the wall, and loped past the three of them. A few seconds behind it came a green and yellow monkey that looked like it had a stalk of broccoli sprouting on top of its head. The green monkey hooted gleefully as it chased the blue monkey and nearly knocked the old professor over.

"Pour, Sage!" the professor bellowed as he hurried off in pursuit. "Come back here!"

_:What were those things?:_ Demon wondered as he sat down in the hallway.

_:Strange creatures from far away,:_ Ash said. _:They arrived here not too long ago and they've done nothing but cause chaos.:_ He sat down slowly; one of his back legs didn't fold up quite right and stuck out at an angle. _:…I did know a vulpix that was gold, though. Bad luck seemed to follow that foolish cub of mine.:_

Demon stared as the odd familiarity suddenly made perfect sense. He wondered why he hadn't recognized his sire sooner. And he wondered why his sire, who had always warned to avoid humans, was now sitting comfortably and without any concern within a human building.

_:How are you friends with the professor?:_ Demon asked.

_:Not long after a mad ninetales was driven away from our communal den, the professor would come by every few days just to watch us. Most of the time we never even noticed him until he'd been sitting in some bushes for a few hours already. He would just sit there and watch so we started to forget about him being there. But I never was able to ignore him, so while he was sitting in the bushes watching us, I would sit close by and watch him._

_ :One day, he brought one of his monsters with him, and it made me an offer. The professor had seen my bad leg and thought that something might be done to fix it, or at least make it less lame. If I wanted it fixed, all I had to do was follow the old man back to his lab and submit myself for treatment._

_ :I thought about it for a while before I decided to—:_

The professor returned then, looking rather disgruntled. He ushered Demon into an exam room and had him jump up onto a metal table. He took dozens of photographs, several measurements, a small vial of blood, and took a few fur samples before he seemed satisfied.

"Thank you for your cooperation," the professor said. "That went much smoother than the first time."

Demon rolled his red eyes and dropped down to the floor. _I could've done without the blood sample._

"It's almost lunchtime, if you would just wait I'll have Iruka escort you back to the Uzumaki house," the old man suggested.

The ninetales curled up on the tile floor. He was in no hurry to go back to Naruto's house. But the professor's lab was a mostly sterile, lifeless place and he knew he couldn't stay here very long without being committed to storage. So he really couldn't object to the old man's plans.

Ash sat nearby, watching him with cool gray eyes.

_:So…you got your leg worked on?:_ Demon asked.

_:Yes,:_ his sire nodded. _:It didn't magically cure me, but it isn't so hard to walk anymore. And the professor made no attempt to add me to his collection of loyal minions. He and his assistants seem remarkably decent for humans—they treat me better than the others back at the den. So I like to come back and visit, and make sure no wild creatures decide to cause any trouble around here.:_

Demon laid his head on his paws and let his mind wander. Ash seemed perfectly content to just watch him and make sure he caused no trouble. The only sound in the room was the faint ticking sound of the clock hanging up on the wall.

He'd already thought plenty about what had happened to Shadow and he was through brooding over it. That didn't leave much else to ponder, so his eyes slowly roamed the room before landing on the vulpix. His sire didn't recognize him at all due to his evolution, so interacting with him was almost like talking to a stranger…

_:That odd-colored, bad-luck pup of yours…what did you think of him?:_

_ :…I didn't dislike him,:_ Ash answered after some thought. _:Nothing ever went right when he was around, but it wasn't like he could help what he was. He's off with some human somewhere now, dreaming of becoming a ninetales and probably doing alright.:_

Demon curled the blue tips of his fluffy tails in thought.

_:Papa—:_

"Good afternoon!" the lab assistant with the scar over his nose greeted cheerfully. "Hey, Ash! Good to see that you and Demon are getting along."

_:What are you calling me "Papa" for?:_ Ash grumbled. _:I haven't sired a pup in almost two years. I have no children young enough to be calling me "Papa".:_

"If you'll follow me," the assistant said to Demon, "I'll walk you home."

Demon slunk after the human and didn't bother answering the vulpix's question.

"Kushina called in today because Naruto turned up back home unexpectedly," the man muttered to himself as he led the way out of the lab. "I hope he's okay."

_No,_ Demon thought to himself, _he's not really okay…_

* * *

><p>Dosu and his comrades cowered before their very intimidating leader. To avoid capture and a return trip to prison, they'd had to abandon their attacking monsters and make a run for it. They'd taken shelter in Orochimaru's gym and now that the heat was down it seemed that they would learn their fate.<p>

Orochimaru sneered at them from his fancy armchair while his pale fingers stroked the back of a strange small leaf serpent that was curled up in his lap. His golden eyes were frigid as he surveyed them as if they were scum. They had failed him once in Wind Country and now they had screwed up even more spectacularly on his very doorstep.

"Imbeciles!" he hissed coldly, making the trio flinch. "You attack a trainer, kill one of his monsters, lose _three_ of your own, and draw far too much police scrutiny far too close to my gym…and all for _nothing_! You didn't acquire any rare or unusual pokémon. You risked being captured _again_. And now you are wanted in Fire Country, which makes you three liabilities to Team Sound…"

A heavy, painful silence fell in the darkened room once more. Zaku shifted nervously and kept his eyes pinned to the floor. Kin's arms were held ramrod straight and she bit her lip to keep from crying. Dosu stood silently with his hands in his pockets and waited.

"You didn't think," Orochimaru continued suddenly, making them flinch again. "Being captured in Fire Country is far more serious than being arrested in Wind Country. The Land of Fire has far more capable interrogators—it would be child's play for them to extract Team Sound secrets from fools like you!"

The serpentine gym leader leaned back in his seat and narrowed his eyes.

"You three have failed utterly, and for that you will be punished."

Zaku cringed. Kin whimpered. Dosu seethed.

"I will not replace your lost pokémon," Orochimaru declared. "You three will go immediately the northern most reaches of Snow Country and you will remain there until further notice."

Briefly, Dosu saw red. They were exiled to one of the coldest places on the continent. They would probably stay there for years. They had lost monsters to the police—his exploud had been his most powerful creature—and they would have to find and capture replacements themselves. And it was all because that stupid trainer that had gotten them jailed in Wind Country had been lucky enough to be saved by some crazy dojo master that had been running laps around the city.

_We didn't even get our revenge,_ Dosu fumed. _That stupid umbreon got in the way! If we had hit that trainer like we'd wanted to, this exile might almost be worth it._

But Dosu reined in his fury and bowed his head in acceptance of his punishment. Kin and Zaku followed his example. Then the trio slunk out of Orochimaru's presence and into Kabuto's as the silver-haired trainer escorted them to the black van that would smuggle them out of the city, and then the country.

_Should our paths cross again, Naruto Uzumaki, I promise that you will not be so fortunate…_

* * *

><p>Kushina slammed down the phone, pounded her fists on the kitchen counter, and ground her teeth to keep from screaming. She'd kept visiting the phone all day, calling in several favors and annoying the heck out of Mikoto in order to find out what had happened to her son. Naruto still wasn't saying much about what happened, but she'd found out enough to get the information she needed out of Mikoto's police connections.<p>

Mere minutes after he'd completed his challenge of Orochimaru's gym he'd been assaulted by three pokémon. Shadow had fallen in his defense and Gai, the crazy dojo master, had happened to be nearby and protected him. The attacking pokémon had been captured by the police but their trainer (or trainers) had slipped away. The pokémon's chips had been tampered with so it was near impossible to trace who they belonged to, and so the police were scrambling in the dark and getting nowhere.

Her opinion of Oto City's police department was abysmal at this point. By law, they needed to call and inform her that her son had been attacked, but since it was his pokémon that had been the one to suffer and not him they'd dragged their feet on it. And when they had called and gotten her answering machine, they'd just hung up to call back later…and never done it. They'd lost the attacking trainers—at first assumed that they were _wild_ pokémon and hadn't even bothered looking for shady trainers in the area. And now they claimed that the aggressor pokémon were untraceable.

_First thing in the morning, I'm going to lodge a formal complaint against that entire department!_ Kushina promised herself as she glared out the kitchen window at the sliver of the moon. _All those officers are incompetents! If Oto City wasn't on the other side of the country, I'd storm over there and strangle all of them with my bare hands!_

Massaging her temples against a building tension-headache, she stalked out of the kitchen and headed towards her bedroom. When she passed Naruto's room, she paused. His door was still shut and no light seeped out through the cracks.

Her son had spent almost the entire day closed up in his bedroom. He'd left only to eat, use the bathroom, and space out in front of the television in the afternoon. When Iruka had stopped by to return Demon, who had wandered over to the lab all by himself, Naruto had locked his bedroom door and refused to come out and talk.

Kushina lingered in the hallway for a few minute longer before slipping into her own room, getting into her pajamas, and crawling into bed.

_Minato, please get here soon, I need your help._


	4. Part IV

**Shadow and Ash**

_Part IV_

On the third day that Naruto was home, his mother barred him from sulking in his room. She insisted that he go outside and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. And if he refused, she'd threatened to take his door off its hinges until he complied.

Very reluctantly, he had slipped out of the house after lunch and started to wander aimlessly. He circled Lake End a few times before trudging down the path into town. Not in the mood to talk to anyone, Naruto avoided people on the streets and headed for places he figured would be deserted. And, eventually, he found his way to his old school.

It was late summer, so there were no students or teachers around. The empty school buildings were dark and almost eerie as he walked past them to the playground. He eyed the slides, monkey bars, seesaws, and swing sets before going past them and settling himself on the lonely single wood-and-rope swing that hung from the branches of an ancient tree.

When he'd been younger, the lonely swing had been his favorite place to sit and wait for his mother to come and walk him home. And during the summer break when he couldn't find anyone to play with and he was sick of playing by the lake, he'd seek out the swing and daydream of becoming the next champion. Now, as he sat on the familiar wooden plank, his old dreams for the future left a bitter taste in his mouth.

_Some pokémon trainer I turned out to be…_

Naruto bowed his head and listlessly pushed the swing back and forth, scuffing the toes of his sneakers in the dirt.

_I'm supposed to be the leader. I'm supposed to be responsible for them. I'm supposed to keep them safe._

He thought about one of his first real captures and how excited he'd been to catch a wild eevee. He remembered how the fluffy creature had loved sitting in his lap and how it had always gotten so happy when he'd praised it. He recalled how disappointed he'd been to not see it evolve, but how impressed he'd been with its new confidence with its new form.

_I'm sorry, Shadow…_

His vision blurred, but no tears came.

_I'm sorry that I froze…_

His hands clenched the coarse rope until his knuckles blanched.

_I'm sorry that you had to save me…_

He bit the inside of his cheek and closed his eyes.

_**I**__ should've saved __**you**__._

He swallowed around the tightening lump in his throat—

"_Togi_?"

Naruto blinked until his vision cleared, and he found a small pokémon sitting on the ground in front of him.

It looked like an egg that had only partly hatched. Most of its body appeared to be covered in white eggshell with red and blue triangle-loops patterns on it. The little thing had yellow feet, stubby yellow arms, and a spiky yellow head that poked out of the jagged edge of broken shell.

He stared at it, and it stared right back up at him.

"_Pi_?" it chirped.

Naruto dug around in his pocket for his pokédex, but came up empty and remembered that his mother had taken it to the professor to get upgraded.

"Oh well," he mumbled and leaned his head against one of the ropes.

The blond boy resigned himself to the mystery creature's presence and went about ignoring it, only to be disturbed again—this time by a human being.

"Naru, there you are—ah, N-Naruto-kun!"

Naruto lifted his head to find Hinata Hyuuga standing nearby with her hands covering her mouth, looking startled and perhaps embarrassed. The little egg monster cried happily and toddled over to her side. It bumped up against her leg a few times before she noticed it and hurriedly scooped it up into her arms.

"U-um, g-good afternoon, Naruto-kun," she squeaked. "Wh-what are you d-doing here?"

"…Nothing," he shrugged. When she kept looking at him, he found a question to ask. "What are you doing back in town?"

"Uh, it's m-my grandfather's b-birthday t-tomorrow," she explained, shuffling her feet. "I w-was close by an-and my father insisted th-that I come, so…"

"Oh." He looked away from her. "…Cool."

"U-um…um, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he lied.

"…Would you l-like to come to g-grandfather's party?" she asked.

"No thanks," he muttered. Hinata was okay, Neji was iffy, but the rest of her family… None of them seemed to be very nice, and even if he'd felt okay he wouldn't want to deal with them. "…What's that pokémon you have there?"

"Naru is a togepi," she answered. "I w-won his egg as a contest prize."

"Congratulations," he said and stiffly slipped off the swing. _I guess I was sitting there for longer than I thought._ "I'll see you around, I guess."

He nodded to her and started to make his escape. He still wasn't in much of a mood to talk to anyone, and since Hinata didn't seem inclined to leave him alone he would be the one to leave. Perhaps he'd go to the library and find some quiet corner where no one would feel the need to speak with him.

"If…if there's a-anything I c-can do to help…" Hinata's voice trailed off.

Naruto waved and picked up his pace slightly. It was nice of her to offer help, but there was nothing that she could do. There was nothing that anyone could do to make it better.

Unless, of course, somebody invented a time machine.

* * *

><p>Demon trotted along Konoha Town's streets, trying to sniff out Naruto's trail so that he could coax the boy back home. He wasn't much of a tracker; he knew the boy's scent well enough but he kept getting distracted. Every time he'd stumble across a new aroma—food, flowers, animal traces, even garbage—his nose tried to follow it until his brain caught onto his mistake and he got back onto Naruto's path.<p>

_Where are you…?_

Again the ninetales was immensely annoyed with his trainer's behavior. He'd lost one monster, and now it was like he forgot that he had _any_ pokémon to look after. The only person to really give any of them any attention or care was Naruto's mother.

_Stupid boy…_ He sneezed a particularly pungent smell out of his nose and cast about for the trail he was supposed to be following. _Walking around without any of us with you… Stupid, idiotic, brainless, thoughtless—_

_ :Halt! Who goes there?:_

Demon paused and glanced up from the ground to find a growlithe standing a few shop's down, staring at him.

_:I'm Demon,:_ he answered slowly. _:And you are…?:_

_ :Growler,:_ the fire dog barked. _:Konoha Town Police Department. Why are you suspiciously sniffing around here?:_

_ :How am I suspicious?:_ Demon wondered with a frown.

_:I don't recognize you and I don't know what you're doing,:_ the growlithe answered with narrowed eyes. _:So, what are you doing?:_

_ :Who are you bothering now?:_

Demon's ears flicked at the new voice and he saw a female vulpix walking out of an alleyway. She looked bored and rather annoyed as she padded over to the growlithe. But when she looked past Growler and saw Demon, she almost tripped over her own paws and then her demeanor immediately changed.

_:Hi there,:_ she ducked her head bashfully and crept closer to him. _:My name's Vixen, what's yours?:_

_ Vixen?_ Demon blinked. _Silky-Tails? What the heck?_

_ :He says his name is Demon,:_ Growler informed her. _:And he is a suspicious pokémon! He still hasn't explained what he's doing.:_

_ :I'm tracking down my trainer,:_ Demon answered, eyeing Vixen warily.

_:Is he lost?:_ Growler asked. _:Or are you lost?:_

_ :We'll help you find your human!:_ Vixen offered eagerly.

Growler tilted his head in confusion. _:But…you never want to help.:_

Vixen ignored his comment and looked up at Demon with shining eyes.

_:No, that's alright,:_ Demon said, moving to edge around them. _:I can find him myself.:_

_ :But it's our job to help,:_ Growler insisted. _:We can look for him while we patrol.:_

_:Yes,:_ Vixen nodded energetically. _:Let us help!:_

_ :No, no, no, I'm sure that you're busy sniffing out criminals and stuff,:_ Demon muttered nervously.

_:What criminals?:_ Vixen snorted. _:No criminal would dare commit crimes while I'm around!:_

_ :What?:_ Growler blinked.

Demon stared at her for a moment before walking around her and Growler and continuing on his way. If he couldn't persuade them to leave him alone, he'd just try and ignore them. He didn't feel like wasting his time.

_:Hey, wait for me!:_ Vixen yelped.

_:Vixen, we need to complete our patrol!:_ Growler protested.

_:You do it!:_ she barked back at him. _:I'll help Mr. Demon.:_

The ninetales bristled a bit as he stalked down the street.

_Huh, I go from "Ugly" to "Mr. Demon"… Does the fact that I'm more evolved somehow make me less offensive than I was? Or is silver somehow an acceptable color while gold is not? Stupid, shallow, empty-headed female!_

As he continued tracking Naruto, he completely ignored Vixen and her babbling. She rambled on about her skills and her accomplishments, and he doubted every word. She was trying to make herself more impressive and attractive, but all she was doing was reinforcing that she had no idea who he was, just like his sire.

It burned him up inside that neither could imagine that he would succeed in his goal of evolving, and so assumed that he was a stranger.

_:…funny that you're a different color from Guardian. There was a vulpix I knew like that, but he was hideous and brought bad luck with him wherever he went! You're so much better looking than he was, Mr. Demon. I'm sure that you're a very lucky…oh no.:_

Just as Demon rounded a corner, a woman and a vulpix exited a shop. The young woman had her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and she had odd red markings on her cheeks. The vulpix trotting obediently at her heels was a female with a bright yellow bow tied around the base of her six curly tails.

_That's…Pixy, isn't it?_ Demon wondered, tilting his head.

_:Let's go back,:_ Vixen whispered. _:We still have time to avoid her—:_

_ :Naruto's scent goes this way, so I'm going this way,:_ Demon said.

_:But—:_

The woman turned her head and squealed with delight when she spied Demon.

"Hey, look Pixy!" She adjusted her grip on the bag she was carrying and hurried over to the ninetales. "Would you happen to be that fantastic vulpix that I saw last fall?"

Demon nodded. _At least humans seem to be smart enough to figure out who I am._

"Wow, you look even better!" the woman grinned.

_:Congratulations!:_ Pixy said, waggling her tails.

_:You're…pfft, no way!:_ Vixen laughed. _:There's no way you could be Ugly!:_

_ :You again?:_ Pixy sighed. _:Don't you have police work to be doing? Where's Growler?:_

_ :Buzz off!:_ Vixen snapped. _:I'm escorting him around town. His trainer is lost.:_

_ :I'm on his trail. I don't need your help,:_ Demon said.

"Vixen?" the woman blinked. "What are you doing here?"

_:Leave Demon alone,:_ Pixy frowned. _:Go back to Kotetsu.:_

_ :__**You**__ leave him alone!:_ Vixen shot back. _:I saw him first!:_

Demon shuddered and backed away to walk around the human and bickering females that would hopefully allow him to escape.

"Are you two going to fight again?" the woman asked warningly.

_:So what if you saw him first? He'll like me better; I'm much more pleasant,:_ Pixy retorted, glaring at the police vulpix.

_:You stink like dog pokémon!:_ Vixen snarled.

_:My comrades don't stink!:_ Pixy growled.

Demon put the small group behind him and moved at a stiff trot. He'd never had females fight over him before. It was…awkward.

_Isn't it supposed to be that males compete over females, not the other way around?_

Shaking off the odd encounter, he continued on his search. He walked past dozens and dozens of buildings, passed through a play area for human children, and eventually came to the doors of a large building with a fancy red-tiled roof. When he tried to go inside, a crazy woman chased him out by waving a heavy book over her head.

Undeterred, Demon made a few other attempts to enter the building before he started circling the place, peeking into its numerous windows. Fortunately he was able to locate his stupid human this way. The blond boy was sitting at a table near one of the rear windows with his back to the glass. So to get his attention, Demon picked up a small rock in his mouth and gently tapped it on the windowpane.

At first the boy didn't react, so Demon tapped a bit harder. Naruto peeked over his shoulder, stared for a moment, and then looked away. Demon tapped even harder. The crazy woman with the heavy book stalked into view and tried to scold the ninetales, but he couldn't hear her through the glass so he ignored her. When she couldn't make him stop she whirled on Naruto and bullied him outside. Demon dropped the rock and waited patiently.

"You got me kicked out of the library!" Naruto growled as he trudged out of the building.

Demon snorted. _:What, you want me to be sorry?:_

"You could've broken that window!" he complained. "I would've had to pay for that!"

_:I didn't break it, though,:_ Demon countered, not that the boy could understand him.

"…Whatever," Naruto sighed, shoved his hands into his pockets, and wandered off.

The ninetales shadowed him and did his best to subtly herd the boy back to his home.

_:You want to go home,:_ Demon muttered. _:Trust me.:_

* * *

><p>Naruto plopped down on the back porch and scowled out over the calm lake waters. While he'd still been in town, he'd run into Kiba's older sister, Hana. She'd pestered him again about breeding Demon and he'd barely been able to give her a civil: <em>"Not right now."<em>

The boy propped his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on the palm of his right hand as his blue eyes swept over the smooth lake. There was a ripple before Typhoon's scaly head broke the surface to peer around. Moments later Tsunami's head joined his, differentiated by her white fleshy whiskers. And then a third gyarados surfaced, and this one was…_red_.

The back door of the house squeaked open. Footsteps made the wooden porch creak. And a shadow fell over Naruto as someone sat down beside him.

Naruto stared fixedly at the gyarados as they submerged and surfaced as they circled the lake. He braced himself for some stupid speech that was supposed to be comforting or some awkward hug. But the newcomer said nothing and did nothing beyond sitting there as seconds stretched into minutes.

"…Aren't you going to say anything?" Naruto sullenly demanded nearly twenty minutes later.

"Do you want me to?" his father asked.

"No," Naruto huffed. "But…aren't you supposed to say stuff like 'it'll be okay' or 'I understand how you feel'—"

"It would be silly to claim to know exactly how you feel," the man almost chuckled. "I never had a pokémon that was as close to me as Shadow was to you get killed. The only monster I've lost so far was more of an acquaintance than a close friend."

Naruto paused and finally looked over to his right at the profile of his dad. He was dressed in light khaki shorts and a blue T-shirt, and he looked cool and calm. The man sat with one leg stretched out in front of him and one arm braced behind him as he slouched and watched the three gyarados play, covering the entire lake with waves and ripples.

"…What happened?" Naruto asked.

"It was a long time ago," he said. "I was sixteen and in the middle of a multi-day tournament hosted in Waterfall Country. The day before I had defeated a real brutish trainer—a muscle-bound bully who was used to always winning through overwhelming strength, both in fist fights and pokémon battles. He got it into his head that I had cheated somehow when I'd defeated him and he kept trying to convince me to admit that I'd cheated and withdraw from the tournament. I refused, so the next day while I was doing some last minute training before the tournament started up again he ambushed me…"

His father fell silent for a minute and a hint of tension crept into his face.

"I'd never used Kaiju all that much. I had gotten him to evolve from a nidoran into a nidorino, but he still needed a lot of experience before I was ready to consider tracking down a _moon stone_ for him. I'd called him in for this tournament and he was performing all right. I was giving him some advice when the bully turned up…and had his steelix trap Kaiju in a _bind_ attack.

"He demanded that I comply with his demands. When I refused, he had his steelix tighten its grip. I tried to recall Kaiju, but the steelix's metal coils blocked the return laser and kept him trapped. I begged and pleaded, but the bully wouldn't release him unless I admitted cheating, which I couldn't do because I hadn't. I was so shocked and panicked that I didn't think to use any of my other pokémon to attack the steelix. I never imagined that anyone would go as far as this man just because he had been knocked out of a tournament.

"Someone must've seen or heard something, because the police came and put a stop to what he was doing…but by then it was too late. The steelix had crushed Kaiju's ribs and spine, and damaged his internal organs. The staff at the Pokémon Center was in the middle of explaining that euthanasia was the best option to me when he died."

Naruto sat mute in slack-jawed disbelief.

"He was arrested for what he did, and I think he went to prison for a while. He lost his trainer's license permanently and was forever banned from owning any pokémon ever again. All his monsters were seized, and I believe his steelix ended up being destroyed. But…he got at least part of what he wanted.

"I was too upset to continue with the tournament, so I withdrew from the competition. I felt so guilty… I wished that I had fought with him more, that I knew him better. I wished that I had found some way to save him from the iron grip of the steelix. I felt awful and worthless, and I had so many regrets…"

"What…what did you do?" Naruto managed to ask.

"Oh, I moped for a while and even toyed with the idea of quitting altogether," his father said with a shrug. "Your mother tried to be patient and understanding, but after a few weeks she'd had it. She slapped me upside the head and told me to stop being stupid. She reminded me of my skills and my dream, and said that if I gave up and squandered my talents she'd ditch me."

Naruto blinked. "And then you were okay?"

"No, not immediately," his dad chuckled. "It took a while, but things got better for me. The things that she said didn't make everything all right, but it did wake me up, I think. I was able to see the bigger picture and look to the future again."

Silence fell again as Naruto chewed this new information over. The three gyarados had gone underwater again and they seemed content to stay there for a while. His mother's feraligatr and kabutops had crawled out of the lake and were now sunning themselves on the shore. It all looked so normal, and he felt that it shouldn't be, somehow.

Uzu-chan, his mother's vaporeon, bolted from around the side of the house and raced towards the lake. Senkou, the jolteon, was hot on her heels and managed to get in front of the vaporeon, blocking her path. They had a little stand-off before darting away, running parallel to the lakeshore and bumping flanks as they raced.

Naruto bit his lip as he watched the pair follow the curve of the lake out of sight. Watching them play wasn't as hard as it had been seeing the police officer's umbreon on his first day back in town. But they still reminded him of a cute ball of brown fluff that had the potential to become so many different creatures.

The younger blond sighed and let his shoulders sag. He fidgeted with the edge of his orange T-shirt before sliding over, closer the small gap between himself and his dad. When he leaned against the older man's side, his father tensed in surprise before hesitantly putting his arm around the boy's shoulders.

"What do you think…I should do now?" Naruto asked quietly.

"That is entirely up to you," his father replied.


	5. Part V

**Shadow and Ash**

_Part V_

Bolt plucked despondently at blades of grass as the noon sun blazed overhead. Sandy dozed on the roof of Naruto's house, soaking up the warm rays. Typhoon was somewhere in Lake End, playing with Naruto's mother's pokémon. Gamakichi was attacking a tree stump along the edge of the woods; he was convinced that if he had been more evolved he could've somehow prevented what had happened and now he was out to become a toxicroak. And Demon was…elsewhere, doing whatever—the pikachu didn't care to know.

It had nearly been a week since Bolt had first encountered the blue-eyed female pikachu named Aoi. She hadn't spoken to him since and avoided him whenever she spotted him. Bolt stewed with frustration and irritation. He couldn't correct her mistaken perception of him as a bad guy if she wouldn't let him get near her and explain!

His brown eyes drifted over the glassy surface of Lake End. The calm water seemed to mock him. It was cold and dangerous and the biggest obstacle between him and her.

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Bolt rolled to his feet and struck off into the woods in a direction where no one else was. He shoved past bush branches and tore at tangled weeds in his path with more violence than was necessary. The ground started to slope steeply upwards but he pushed on.

_I wish Kiroi was here instead of that clown, Senkou. She's older and more evolved than me and totally out of my league, but she'd understand._

The ground leveled off and Bolt paused to get his bearings. His ears pricked and twitched towards the sounds of voices. Intrigued, he crept closer to see who else was out this way.

Peeking through a gap between a bush and a tree trunk, Bolt could see a small clearing filled with wild flowers. Senkou the jolteon was there, sniffing through the flowers. And Uzu-chan sat nearby, watching him.

_Maybe…maybe I could get Uzu-chan to talk to Aoi for me, like a go-between._

Most of Naruto's mother's pokémon spent most or all of their time in the lake, so Bolt didn't have much to do with them. While they were decent creatures, some of them were very intimidating, like Slasher the kabutops. He wasn't about to go swimming to have a chat with them. But now here was one that was approachable and far from the water, so—

_:Alright,:_ Uzu-chan sighed. _:Charm me.:_

_ :I thought you'd never ask!:_ Senkou giggled.

The jolteon selected a sprig of bright blue flowers, bit through the stem, and then presented them to the vaporeon with a flourish.

_:Cute,:_ she snorted.

_:These flowers remind me of your sleek blue skin,:_ he told her. _:But you are far more beautiful, and you smell much sweeter!:_

Uzu-chan's fin-like ears twitched back and she turned her head with a sniff. _:You're such a sap.:_

_ :Oh, don't tell me there isn't something to reminds you of me? Something yellow—a flower, a piece of fruit, another yellow pokémon?:_

_ :Nope,:_ the vaporeon shrugged.

_:You wound me!:_ Senkou gasped and flopped onto his side. _:I'm reminded on you all the time! I see a golduck, an oran berry, that flower, and I think of you!:_

_ :Sure you do,:_ Uzu-chan scoffed. _:You think of me and any other female you can mate with, and a few you can't.:_

_ :Lies!:_ the jolteon denied, throwing a paw over his eyes. _:I only think of you! You are the loveliest vaporeon I have ever seen. You are the most beautiful eevee I have ever encountered. And yet I mean nothing to you!:_

_:You flirt with every female you see,:_ the vaporeon grumbled.

_:I don't flirt with __**all**__ of them, and never seriously!:_ Senkou whined. _:Please, give me a chance. You won't regret it!:_

_:I already do,:_ Uzu-chan sighed. _:But since it's what they want…let's just get this over with.:_

_ :Yay!:_

Senkou was immediately back on his feet and licking her nose with enthusiasm. She twisted her head away and crouched down on the ground, tucking her tail to one side. The jolteon pranced around behind her, and…

_Augh!_ Bolt backed away from his little spy-hole and ran. _Ew! Gross! Yuck!_

_ I did __**not**__ need to see that!_

* * *

><p>Naruto ran his fingertips over the red outer casing of his pokédex. It looked exactly the same as it had been when his mother had taken it away to be upgraded. He flipped it open and saw that the screen and buttons looked identical, and he frowned slightly.<p>

"It doesn't look any different."

"It was more of a software upgrade than a hardware upgrade," his mother explained. "A little bit of memory and processing power was added, but most of what the professor did was upload new information and entries."

"Oh." Naruto snapped the device closed and slip it into his pants pocket. "Cool, I guess."

"Not just cool, but essential," she snorted. "With the recent treaty that's bringing new monsters to our continent, you're going to need information on them when you run across a trainer that has one. Otherwise you'll be fighting them blind."

Naruto chewed at the inside of his cheek. He hadn't really given any thought to future pokémon battles. He was pretty sure that he didn't want to give up his chosen career path, but the idea of asking his creatures to fight again after what had happened…

"Oh, and why don't you take this one with you, too?" she suggested brightly and pulled a second pokédex out of the large pocket in her lab coat.

It was an older model; larger, clunkier, and with some of the dull red paint chipped off around the corners, but still in much better shape than his mother's.

"Whose is this?" Naruto wondered as he turned it over in his hands.

"Your father's," she replied. "You'll see him sooner than I will, so give it to him when you get home. I'll go pass along your thanks to the professor now," his mother said with a smile and left him after ruffling his hair.

The boy lingered in the small office his mother used for secretary work before wandering out into the rest of the laboratory complex. He strolled down the hall towards the main entrance and exit, his mind running over the question of what he should do now. But no matter how much he thought about it, he never seemed to find an answer.

He rounded the corner—

Up ahead he saw the professor. In front of the old man stood Hinata, Kiba (and his growlithe), and Shino. The old man was smiling at them and handing them pokédexes.

"Thanks, Professor!" Kiba grinned widely.

"You're very welcome," the old man chuckled.

Naruto backed around the corner and headed for a side door instead. He didn't feel up to talking to any of his old classmates. There was no way he wanted to explain why he was back in town.

His path took him past the massive storage room that held dozens of trainers' extra pokémon. He hesitated by the glass door and eyed the rows upon rows of shelves filled with all kinds of pokéballs. Unconsciously his hand dropped down to the belt on his waist that held five empty pokéballs.

With Shadow gone, he had an open slot on his team.

So…should he fill it?

_…No, not now._

Shaking his head, Naruto continued on. He had plenty of fine pokémon that could bring his team up to six members. Drifter was friendly and obedient, Al was eager to help when he wasn't sleeping, Shiitake was still a bit difficult to control but was much better now that he had evolved, Ginsu was still a bit feral and could use more human interaction, and Spooky was strong if disorderly. But it didn't seem right to have any of them permanently take Shadow's place.

Naruto slipped out the lab's side door and headed home.

* * *

><p>Demon slipped through the woods, skirting bushes and leaping over fallen logs until he reached a rise that looked up on the hill that he'd once called home. Hiding his glittering silver fur behind a broad tree trunk his red eyes scanned his surroundings, picking out all the vulpix. When he'd abandoned this place he'd dreamed of returning after achieving evolution and flaunting it to all of those that had shunned him.<p>

Now that he had to opportunity to do that, he found that the idea had lost most of its appeal.

_…What am I doing here?_

From his vantage point he watched as Notch-Ear and Scar-Leg tussled in the dirt, while Five-Tails sat on the sidelines and yawned. Straight-Tails was trying to charm Rosy-Pelt with very limited success. Sable-Paws—the mother that had completely abandoned him after his sire's leg had half-healed—was sunning herself on a rock without a care in the world. There were few foxes that he knew that he didn't see foraging around the hill, and there were some that he did see that he didn't recognize.

The ninetales sat in the shadows and watched them go about their business for about ten minutes before he turned away to leave—

_:Well, look who's here.:_

For a moment Demon thought he'd been spotted, but when he looked back he found that it was someone else that had attracted their attention. Ash had arrived at the foot of the hill and was sniffing around some of the berry bushes growing there. All the vulpix stopped what they were doing to stare at him.

_:What? The humans won't feed you sweets so you skulk back to take ours?:_ One-Eye, a grizzled elder fox, sneered.

_:They feed me nothing,:_ Ash replied. _:I am an independent creature.:_

_ :You expect us to believe that?:_ Sable-Paws sniffed. _:You sniff around their feet like a pet! You are part of their world now, not ours.:_

Ash ignored them and went about his business.

_:I've had just about enough of you, Limper!:_ Five-Tails snarled as Ash plucked some berries from the bush that he found. _:You aren't one of us anymore! Quit stealing our food!:_

Five-Tails, Scar-Leg, and Notch-Ear circled around Ash, _growling_. Ash _growled_ back, but he was at a disadvantage—alone against three opponents. Not a single fox raised a paw to help him; they just sat back and watched with tacit approval.

Notch-Ear made the first move and rammed into Ash's side, while Scar-Leg went for Ash's paws, and Five-Tails clamped his teeth onto Ash's left ear—

Demon bounded down the rise, leapt over a small ditch, and darted over to the tangle of fur and snapping teeth. The watching vulpix yelped in fright at the sudden appearance of his bright silver fur and scattered to hide in dens or under bushes. Demon knocked the aggressor vulpix aside and _roared_ to send them running.

_:We should go now,:_ Demon growled as he glared at the surrounding forest.

_:I didn't ask for your help!:_ Ash snapped as a trickle of blood dripped from his bitten ear.

_:Well you looked like you needed it,:_ Demon retorted.

The cowering foxes started to whisper loudly to each other.

_:A ninetales!:_

_:Another ninetales!:_

_ :This one looks different.:_

_ :Will he eat us?:_

_ :Why did he interfere?:_

Ash's odd gray eyes blazed. _:I would've been fine!:_

_ :That would depend on your definition of "fine",:_ Demon snorted. _:You're bleeding.:_

_:So what? I've bled before. It's part of life!:_

_:Lord Ninetales,:_ old One-Eye said as he boldly shuffled into view. _:Two other ninetales have appeared to us before. The one we called Guardian led us astray and brought us great peril while promising us protection and guidance. The one named Kyuubi did us no harm, but—:_

_ :I know!:_ Demon interrupted impatiently.

_:You do?:_ One-Eye blinked in surprise.

_:Who are you?:_ Five-Tails burst out, poking his head through some bushes. _:Why did you stop us from punishing that interloper?:_

_ :I'm no interloper!:_ Ash barked.

_:Yes you are,:_ Gray-Muzzle growled, slipping into view beside her longtime mate, One-Eye. _:You spend more time by human dens then by ours. You are no longer one of us. We've told you so several times now.:_

_ :I was born here!:_ Ash insisted. _:I've raised pups here!:_

_ :That doesn't matter,:_ One-Eye said. _:What matters is your commitment to the group…or lack thereof.:_

_ :You've raised pups, and they're all grown; they have no more need for you. And you won't be siring anymore. Not after that last one,:_ Gray-Muzzle sniffed.

Demon cringed and glanced sidelong at his sire. The vulpix had always been proud of his strength and his position in the pack. When he'd become crippled he'd soldiered on and kept his head held high. It had angered Demon when his sire had never complained, even when his name had changed from Gray-Eyes to Limper. Now, seeing his sire's pride finally shredded by this rejection, he just felt bad.

_:But this is my home!:_ Ash protested.

_:Find a new one,:_ Five-Tails sneered. _:Go sleep beside the human dens you guard.:_

_ :Maybe you'll find creatures there that are foolish enough to mate with you,:_ Scar-Leg snickered from his hiding spot.

Ash opened his mouth to argue, but closed it and walked away. He looked utterly defeated—something Demon had never seen before. Demon trailed a few paces behind him.

_:Lord Ninetales, where are you going?:_ Rosy-Pelt cried.

_:Won't you stay?:_ Sable-Paws asked.

_:Don't you want to get to know us better?:_ Bright-Eyes cooed.

_:I already know you,:_ Demon muttered. _:And I want nothing to do with any of you.:_

It was silent as he and Ash wandered away from the hill. Ash seemed directionless as he walked along the forest trails. Demon followed him, lost in thought.

_…Perhaps I gave them too much credit. Like me, they probably thought that if I evolved that I would become normally-colored. And they probably never imagined I would succeed in evolving anyway._

_ I look different, I sound different, and I smell different, so of course they don't recognize me!_

_ :…I never did get your name, did I?:_ Ash asked, finally breaking the silence.

_:Demon,:_ he answered.

_:So, Demon, what should I do now?:_ Ash demanded sourly.

_:I don't know,:_ Demon muttered, dipping his head in a shrug.

_:What good are you, then?:_ Ash snapped.

Demon made no reply.

They walked another ten minutes or so before Ash stopped and stared at the dirt beneath his paws in deep thought.

_:…You called me "Papa" before. Of my five offspring, only two were male and only one ever left the den-hill.:_ He eyed Demon intensely. _:So…it's you. Your grand goal to evolve has been achieved. But it doesn't seem to have worked out as you had hoped.:_

_ :No,:_ Demon sighed ruefully. _:No, it didn't.:_

Ash let out a chuckle devoid of any humor and began walking again, this time with more purpose. Demon shadowed him to within sight of the professor's laboratory before stopping. Feeling a little bit better about the situation, he headed back to Naruto's home.

_He's better off with the old man than with them. He should be happier staying with the lab people. They'll treat him right._

* * *

><p>After taking a meandering, circuitous route, and lingering on the shore of the lake to admire Akai the red gyarados, Naruto finally made his way back inside his house through the back door. With his mother still working in the lab, the only person home was his father. But, even knowing that he was there, Naruto still jumped a bit when he saw him lounging on the couch, reading a magazine.<p>

"Ah, you're back!" the older blond smiled and waved him over.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded and handed over the older pokédex. "Mom gave me this for you."

"Thank you," his father smiled and set the device on the coffee table after quickly checking that it was functioning properly. "I'll have to look at the new entries later."

"What are you reading?" Naruto asked half-curiously as he glanced at the magazine.

"Some articles on new events and battle styles being brought over from foreign lands." His father turned the open magazine so that he could see some of the pictures. "There will be at least two different styles of triple battling introduced in upcoming tournaments. And," he chuckled, "they're opening at least one musical hall for Pokémon Musicals. Oh Kushina's going to hate that!"

"Why?" Naruto wondered as he studied a photograph of a battlefield cluttered with six pokémon and tried to figure out how that would work.

"She hates most contests because it's focused on performances instead of battling," he explained. "Supposedly these Pokémon Musicals are just pokémon dressed up in costumes dancing on stage. They don't even demonstrate attacks. And most of these musical performances have no prizes or winners."

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "That sounds really dumb."

"Your mother is going to hate it," his father chuckled, shaking his head. "I can already imagine the rants." He leaned over and picked up a white envelope from the coffee table and handed it to Naruto. "By the way, a girl stopped by not long after you left and dropped that off for you."

"Thanks," Naruto said and retreated to his room with the envelope, just in case it turned out to be something embarrassing.

He shut the door and hopped onto his bed before tearing the envelope open. Inside, he found a fancy "get well soon" card with shiny gold lettering and a watercolor picture of flowers in a vase. On the inside he found a note written in neat, feminine, cursive.

_"Naruto-kun,_

_ I don't know what is wrong, but I hope you feel better soon. If there is anything that I can do to help, please let me know. I wish you the best of luck on your continuing pokémon journey, and hope that you achieve your dreams._

_ Sincerely,_

_ —Hinata Hyuuga"_

Naruto closed the card and frowned thoughtfully.

_I should apologize to her for being grumpy before._

He laid back on his bed, pulled out his pokédex, and keyed up the recently added entry on snivy, only half-listening to what the electronic voice was saying.

_Maybe I'll go find Hinata tomorrow…_

* * *

><p>Nagato stiffly shifted in his mechanical chair as he intently watched a video monitor. On the screen some grunts struggled to move a large cage that contained a massive blue bird to a containment area in an underground complex on the other side of Rain Country. The captive bird made only token attempts at resistance; it was still reeling from being pacified during its capture the day before.<p>

"That's two of the three," he said to the glowing screen. "One more and that trio will be complete. Then we can target another group of legends."

Once he saw the blue bird safely locked up, he turned off the screen and looked into the corner of his room where a creature clad in mechanical armor crouched, awaiting orders.

The genetic material bought off the black market had been exactly what his friends had hoped. The clone wasn't entirely perfect—the tail had come out a bright green instead of the dull purple that was described in the literature, and it was less intelligent and more docile. But it had all the power that Mewtwo was reputed to have possessed, and with the improved control armor as a safeguard it was serving his cause beautifully.

"You have done well," Nagato said. "Go to Yahiko and train until Zapdos's location has been confirmed."

The armored psychic creature bowed and withdrew from his chamber.

Nagato settled back in his chair with a sigh and tapped a scarred, bony finger on the armrest.

_Once we have all three birds, we should focus on the beasts,_ he mused. _With both birds and beasts under our control, we will have more than enough power to capture Ho-oh and Lugia. And after that, the rest of the legends will be child's play to defeat…_


	6. Part VI

**Shadow and Ash**

_Part VI_

Naruto sighed and finally decided to call it quits for the night. He'd bypassed Shinobi Town and Kunoichi Town to travel new ground, but the next town on was further away than he'd thought it was. The sun had set and although he could keep going by the light of his flashlight he didn't feel up to it. So when he came to a small meadow at the foot of a steep wooded hill he dropped his backpack and got ready to sleep under the stars.

It had been a little over two weeks since he'd retreated home and he had finally felt restless and up to striking out again. He was a bit disappointed that he hadn't caught up with Hinata before she left with Kiba and Shino. But it was probably for the best as his mother had stumbled over the card Hinata had given him in his room and had delighted in teasing him about it. If she knew that he'd hung out with her while she was in town, she would've joked about when he was going to marry her or something.

Tucking his flashlight under one arm, Naruto unrolled his sleeping bag and arranged it one what looked to be the softest patch of ground. He'd already eaten earlier and intended to go right to sleep so he didn't bother with a campfire. And the weather was warm and clear so there was no need to pitch a tent. All he needed to was spray himself with insect repellant, kick off his shoes, and crawl into his sleeping bag.

_Now where's the bug spray?_

Before he'd left his mother had insisted on packing his bag for him. He hadn't really objected as it was always tricky to shove all the supplies that he needed into it. Sometimes it took him five tries to fit everything so that he could zip it closed. But…now he didn't know where all his stuff was in the bag.

_Is that…no, that's no it. Or maybe this is…no, not it either. Maybe it's buried at the bottom—_

His fingertips ran over something large, cylindrical, and completely unfamiliar. Peeling away the folded clean clothes that were packed around it, he was able to remove the mysterious object and shine his flashlight on it. His jaw then promptly dropped.

_A pokémon egg?_

It was encapsulated in a clear incubation tube that kept the egg warm and protected it from breakage. The egg inside was brown with a tan zigzag band that stretched horizontally around its middle. Taped to the battery-powered device was a note.

_"Every trainer should hatch at least one pokémon egg in his career, so here's yours! Take good care of it! Love you lots!_

_ —Mom and Dad"_

Naruto carefully peeled the note off the incubator and gently tucked the tube into the sleeping bag. He found the bug spray and coated himself with it, then packed his bag back up. Switching off the flashlight, kicking off his shoes, and pulling the goggles off his forehead, he slipped into the sleeping bag beside the egg and stared up at the night sky.

Thousands of tiny stars glittered high overhead, cold and distant. Naruto tried to trace out the constellations hidden in them, but they all looked the same to him. As his eyelids started to droop, a tiny flash caught his attention.

_A shooting star!_

Closing his eyes, he whispered a wish before sleep crept over him…

* * *

><p>At the top of the hill, a hazy black form with glowing yellow rings slipped out of the brush and slunk down the slope. It moved silently to the side of the boy sleeping in the dull orange sleeping bag and watched him as he snored softly, resting a gentle paw on his shoulder. The dark thing blinked its red eyes when it spied the egg beside the boy, then dipped its head to lick the child's scarred cheek before turning tail and bounding back up the hill.<p>

Waiting on the other side of the bushes was a small white pokémon hovering a few inches off the ground. It was humanoid with stubby limbs, little blue triangles under its eyes, and an odd black seam across its belly. Two yellow sashes sprouted from its shoulder blades and it appeared to have a yellow, three-point hat or headdress on its head. From each point dangled a blue tassel that resembled paper a tag and one of them was glowing faintly.

The floating white creature spread its arms and the dark shape slowly approached it. With every step the black thing's form grew more indistinct until it was nothing more than a condensed orb of sparkling yellow light. The star-like pokémon cradled the orb in its arms and slowly started to rise higher off the ground.

_:I'm sorry,:_ it said. _:But there are rules that can't be broken.:_

_ :I understand,:_ the yellow spark answered. _:It was more than enough. Thank you.:_

It smiled and burst through the treetops, spiraling higher and higher into the endless night sky. When the wish pokémon grew closer to the stars it opened its arms and the golden spark darted skyward even faster, streaking up into the heavens. As the orb vanished from sight, glowing kanji characters that decorated one of its blue tag-tassels flickered and faded away.

_"I wish that I could say good-bye."_


End file.
